Quang Xa village in the central province of Quang Binh is known as a centre for Hue royal court music, being home to scores of musicians that keep Vietnamese court singing alive.

Central Ha Tinh province was a cultural center of the Dong Son Civilization dating back more than 2,000 years. It boasts a wealthy cultural treasury with thousands of folk and chanting melodies, and hosts dozens of traditional festivals. Boat racing in Trung Luong commune is one of those festivals.

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and the Museum of Can Tho will co-sponsor an exhibition on 100 years of weddings in Vietnam to mark Vietnam’s Southern Liberation Day (April 30).

An exhibition entitled “The Communist Party of Vietnam – from Congress to Congress” opened in Hanoi on April 14, with nearly 200 pictures and objects on display featuring the constant development of the Party, the Doi Moi (Renewal) process and the industrialisation and modernisation process in Hanoi and the whole country.

Many cultural and artistic activities will be held nationwide, especially in Hanoi, to welcome the 10th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, slated for April 18-25.

A Vietnam-Japan cultural contest will be organised in Ho Chi Minh City between April 15 and June 3 with the aim of further boosting cultural exchanges and relations between young people of the two countries.

Vu Ngoc Diep, a student from Hanoi Tourism and Trade College, has become Miss Ba Ria-Vung Tau Sea Festival.

Vietnamese students who are studying at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand have won a golden prize at the annual cultural exchange organised by AIT.

A group of 14 children from the Hanoi Children's Palace will participate in the TRT International Children's Festival in Turkey for the first time.

Vietnamese violinist Bui Cong Duy was admitted to the Viruous Moskva Chamber Orchestra, becoming the first foreign member of the world-famous orchestra in its 24-year history.

With diverse activities planned for the week, the 2006 Sea Festival in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province will be an attractive destination for thousands of visitors to enjoy festivities by the sea.

The exhibition will be opened on April 30 by the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and the Can Tho City Museum to display artefacts fromVietnamese weddings over the last 100 years.

A giant folk musical instrument park, which is expected to enter the Guinness World Record, is being built by Ha Long Company in the Lang Co tourism resort in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

A bamboo musical instrument, named t’rung and unique to the Central Highlands, was put on show in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province, on April 8.

The Danish Embassy launched the Vietnam - Denmark Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF) in Hanoi on April 7.

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) has presented 55,000 prayer books in the Pali-Khmer language to pagodas in southern provinces and cities on the occasion of the traditional Chol Chnam Thmay festival (New Year festival) of the Khmer ethnic people.

Nguyen Tong My Linh, a three-year student of the biochemical department of Virginia University in the US has been granted Barry Goldwater scholarship for the 2006-2007 academic year.

UNESCO representative Chu Shiu Kee praised Vietnam's efforts in pre-school education development at a conference in Hanoi on April 7.

This was one of the major events of the 2006 Hung Kings’ death anniversary programme, which focuses on activities to honour national culture, and encourage people to boost production and study in the lead up to the 10th National Party Congress.

An exhibition entitled "Light and Pen" opened in HCM City on the evening of April 6 to display 12 white and black photos taken by Daniel Hung, an overseas Vietnamese from France.

Vietnam's water puppetry has attracted almost 1,000 French children to each show presented at the on-going Imagine Festival in Paris, said the festival's organising board.

The final round of the 2006 Sea Beauty Contest Ba Ria-Vung Tau will be held on the evening of April 12 in the southern city of Vung Tau. More than 100 girls have enrolled in the event and many of them have secured prizes from previous beauty contests.

Nearly 200 wood antiques from the Nguyen dynasty are on display in the Vietnam History Museum in HCM City from April 4 to late October 2006.

Three painters are organising a rather special painting exhibition in Hanoi to raise funds in support of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin. Visitors will be able to have their own portraits painted for something between VND50,000-200,000.

The Hung Kings Festival will be held at the Suoi Tien Tourist Spot in Ho Chi Minh City on April 8, under the theme “Hung Kings journey back to legendary lands”.

Pho An My graduated from the Hanoi Conservatory of Music and studied piano in Germany for eight years. She is now a pianist lecturer in Nanning, China.

Quan Ho, a special folk singing tradition of northern Bac Ninh province, with its unique and enjoyable features, deserves to be recognised as an intangible world heritage, said Dr. Gisa Jaehnichen, a German expert in Music.

German world-known cameraman Busso von Mueller and his teammates are shooting a movie of Hanoi, portraying the city with a new positive facelift.

Over the past 20 years of implementing the Doi Moi (Renewal) process, the ethnic literature and art circle has grown strongly, contributing considerably to arts research projects. However, there are less renowned ethnic artists, while young ethnic artists seem not to show keen interest in this cultural and spiritual area.